‘Would you like a wearable device that gives you feedback so you can optimize your climbing technique?”

We are a group of first years Industrial Design students at the University of Eindhoven and we would like to know your opinion. Currently we are working on a project called ‘Wearable Senses’, it is about integrating technology in clothing and textiles. We looked at several subjects and we ended up finding wallclimbing (bouldering) the most fascinating. We did some research and spoke to several climbers and eventually we came up with a design for a flexible device for your feet that will be able to measure whether you change the position of your feet often or not since that is a common mistake. The device will send the data to your smartphone and it will give you immediate feedback on how you can improve your technique.

However, we would like to extend the group of climbers we know since our feedback at the moment is rather limited. We would like to involve you guys in the designing process and therefore I would be very grateful if you could help us out with tips & tricks and maybe more common climbingerrors which we could tackle by integrating it in our product.

If you like it I will keep you updated in the future, who knows, maybe you can even test the prototypes!

‘Would you like a wearable device that gives you feedback so you can optimize your climbing technique?”

We are a group of first years Industrial Design students at the University of Eindhoven and we would like to know your opinion. Currently we are working on a project called ‘Wearable Senses’, it is about integrating technology in clothing and textiles. We looked at several subjects and we ended up finding wallclimbing (bouldering) the most fascinating. We did some research and spoke to several climbers and eventually we came up with a design for a flexible device for your feet that will be able to measure whether you change the position of your feet often or not since that is a common mistake. The device will send the data to your smartphone and it will give you immediate feedback on how you can improve your technique.

However, we would like to extend the group of climbers we know since our feedback at the moment is rather limited. We would like to involve you guys in the designing process and therefore I would be very grateful if you could help us out with tips & tricks and maybe more common climbingerrors which we could tackle by integrating it in our product.

If you like it I will keep you updated in the future, who knows, maybe you can even test the prototypes!

See you on the wall!

The Feetforward Team

I fail to see how sending the data to your smartphone gives you immediate feedback. You can't look at your smartphone WHILE climbing, you would have to review the results after you fall/come down, and relate it to what you were feeling, or what you thought you were doing at the time the signal showed you you were doing something. I don't think this sort of data would be any more valuable than asking a buddy to take a video with your smartphone and reviewing that video, instead.

The immediate feedback would be some kind of beep sound as you are changing foot position. But then also comes a question of how big this device is, how is it attached to your shoes, or placed inside your shoes, and wheather the presence of the device itself would change/interfere with your footwork?

I think what they meant was, once you hit the pad you can get feedback. Your right a good climbing partner can tell you what you did wrong, not only if your feet were sketch but body english and a bunch of other things.

To reply on Lena; The feedback will be given after you completed the course. The purpose of this product is to be an open source platform so experts from all regions can add their remarks, we think this will be more productive than just one climber who watched you for a few minutes. Also the device will be more accurate and will be able to measure data that will not immediately be visible with the naked eye. The physical device itself is ultrathin and will most likely be placed between the sole of your shoe and the padding on the inside, however, there is a change that it will be around 3mm thicker.

To reply on Lena; The feedback will be given after you completed the course. The purpose of this product is to be an open source platform so experts from all regions can add their remarks, we think this will be more productive than just one climber who watched you for a few minutes. Also the device will be more accurate and will be able to measure data that will not immediately be visible with the naked eye. The physical device itself is ultrathin and will most likely be placed between the sole of your shoe and the padding on the inside, however, there is a change that it will be around 3mm thicker.

To me, it still seems useless to know this information without relating it to what the rest of your body was doing, and what your head thought you were doing. How will the 'experts" review the data without knowing want climb I was doing, or seeing the actual moves i was doing to get through the sequence? A video review is much better, IMO.

And 3mm will almost double the thickness of the sole/toe on some shoes. I am not sure the loss of sensitivity is worth it.

When I was coaching a competitive youth team, I had a couple of kids with poor footwork. I tied a little Christmas type jingle bell on a rubber band and they wore it around their instep.

Instant aural feedback and it cost about 25 cents. Combined with occasional video of their technique and coaches feedback once they hit the floor, one of those kids went on to make the US National team later that year.

To reply on Lena; The feedback will be given after you completed the course. The purpose of this product is to be an open source platform so experts from all regions can add their remarks, we think this will be more productive than just one climber who watched you for a few minutes. Also the device will be more accurate and will be able to measure data that will not immediately be visible with the naked eye. The physical device itself is ultrathin and will most likely be placed between the sole of your shoe and the padding on the inside, however, there is a change that it will be around 3mm thicker.

Feedback after the climber completes the route is of extremely limited value compared with feedback in real time. Furthermore, inserting a device into the shoe, even if there is room for it (which is doubtful, given the way climbers size their shoes), will degrade the fit of the shoe and reduce the ability of the climber to feel the hold through the sole, factors that will likely degrade the climber's performance, exactly the opposite of what the device is intended to accomplish.

...Also the device will be more accurate and will be able to measure data that will not immediately be visible with the naked eye.

What data will it measure?

And most climbing shoes don't have any padding.

Edit to add: I should think you would at least need to know hand and hip positions as well to even begin to give much valuable feedback. Merely knowing how much I move my feet is a pretty small degree of feedback on the full spectrum of climbing.

We understand the criticism, maybe it is true that climbing is not the right context for our prototype. We gathered a group of climbers and we will discuss your points with them. If it does not work out we will try to find another purpose for our device since we have to deliver something.